Apple released its first public beta for iOS 18.6 on June 18, just over a week after the company announced iOS 26 at its global developer conference. While the iOS 26 update will bring a major redesign to the iPhone this fall, the latest beta consists primarily of bugs and security fixes.
Read more: Expert Guide for iOS 18
Since this is a beta, I recommend downloading it only on something other than the main device. Because this is not the final version of iOS 18.6, the update may be a barrier and battery life may be affected, so it is best to keep these hassles away from your main device.
Note that Beta is not the final version of iOS 18.6, so more features can be landed on iPhone when it is released. It is not clear when Apple will release iOS 18.6 to the public. However, this may be the last important iOS release from the company before iOS 26 is available this fall.
This is what iOS 18.6 expects when landing on iPhone.
This Beta is about security patches and squeezing errors
If you are a developer or beta tester, don’t expect from this beta except for bugs and security fixes. After downloading and researching iOS 18.6 Beta 1, I found no new features or obvious changes. This is not surprising considering Apple’s iOS release schedule over the years.
Apple announced iOS 18 at WWDC 2024 and released 17.6 iOS one month later in July. The update is full of over 30 important bug fixes and security patches, but no new features. Apple advises everyone to download the update at the time, which is the last major iOS 17 update before iOS 18 was released.
Apple did the same thing when it released iOS 16.6 in July 2023. When the tech giant released the update, it focused on bug fixes and security patches. The next major iOS version is iOS 17.
Apple may be shifting gears and focusing more on iOS 26. In fact, the company has released two developer betas, with the iOS software preparing for its fall release.
There will be more beta before iOS 18.6 is released to the public, so Apple has plenty of time to add features or change other features – but I don’t expect new features. Apple has not announced when iOS 18.6 will be released yet, but since iOS 17.6 and iOS 16.6 are released in July 2024 and 2023, respectively, I hope Apple releases iOS 18.6 next month.
For more information about iOS 18, you need to know about iOS 18.5 and iOS 18.4. You can also view our iOS 18 cheat sheet and all information about iOS 26.
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